National Republican., 1887-07-08

From door to door you might have seen him
Or placed amidst group OF gaping fools
And whispering in iheircars with his foul lips.
Peace fed the neghborhood in which he made
His haunts, and, ike moral pestilencc,
Before, his breath the healthy blooms and
ofsoclai Joy and happiness decayed
Fools only IN his company were seen,
And those forsaken of God and TO themselves
The prudent Stunned him and his house
As one who had a deadly moral plague"
This picture specially commend. not to the
counsel on the other side, not to the nominal
prosecutor, Mr.. Washington, but TO the real
adyersaIies OF Mr.. Todd and the church, who
have stirred up this cesspool OF filth. Horn
baker, the Bodines, the more than the one hun.
dfed petitioners OF the violent and cruel OF
hTi And who W 5'u IS tSe" the Rev. Francis NJ Todiq
One OF our own brethren, bearing a most hon
ored name; his father long n servant oil
old age: descended from the old Scotch Cove.
nanter stock on his fathers side, and ou his
mothers from the Huguenot blood that
Languedoc: in his youth and college days,
like other boys, mischieyous and wild, MT
converted till nearly a dozen years after he
brought 10 the foot of the cross, and brought
Into the Christian ministry-for the last ten
years the pastor OF Manassas and Prince Will.
lam ehuIches-haying to-day iirmer hold OF
gttgations, and of the best elements of society
at large In that region than ever before. He
has lived and battled with the beastsat Ephesus
all these years: he has bravely encountered
the same ftightful elements OF gossip, dlscord,
and reproach OF all the baser sort OF those
people and In an atmosphere OF calumuy 10
which several former ministers could not live
and bad to Nee away. Many are the hearts
that sympathize and greve with him I'm this
the most awful ordeal OF his life. His noble
earth, engaged grandly In educational and mis-
sion work, how will they mourn with him and
for him and bis family and his churches all
made he 81 air @ etd % With the iSnch perdtos si
When the tidings Of this matter. went first
abroad; and ! had heard the plain, simple
story Of my brother, Todd. thought II myself
appeal TO any one OF you In n similar crisis
how grateful would be your sympathy aud
help, and determined to place myself at his
service to do for him what might as would
i would rather S - defend than accuse, and
envy not my loved and honored brother in the
him.
DR.. Sunderland then read in very i'm
pressive manner the 10th Psalm, in which
David prayed against his enemies, and
which commences "Deliver me, o Lord,
from the evil man; preserve me from the
violent man: which imagine mischief in
their heart; continually are they gathered
toke'ncr ioi war, anu COuCluucu US lOl-
lows:
Moderator and brethren, thank you again
for the serious attention you have given this
brief review, and now under the direction OF
God, submit the case of Brother Todd into
your keeping. Do right; that is all we ask.
DR.. Childs said he was almost willing to
close the case then, but he had some few
differences In time which he desired to
point out to the court. He thought the
xx.xr l. 4. IA
was easy to make an error OF an hour. The
doctor Strengthened out several Of the dis
| crepancies, and held that the differences
were Of no serious consequence and did not
| affect the strength of the prosecution's 8
| case. The testimony was elaborately re-
| viewed, but the veracity Of the witnesses
| was not attacked. He said there was no evil
dence to show or intimate that the story OF
| Turner was made up for him, and Turner
| himself evidently had not sufficient ca
pacity to construct the story for himself.
The question OF mistaken identity on the
part of Turner was clearly discussed. "Could
he have been mistaken as to the man, the
horse, and the bag?" The reliability of
Turner's testimony In general he held to be
fully sustained, aud Turner's character was
proven to have been good.
"The only question for you to decide Is,
us the story trueP"
The learned doctor closed most careful,
earnest, and searching review Of the case
by saying:
~ have tried to fulfil the duty you have
laid upon me; / leave the case with you.
II you shall find the evidence justies the
charge you will say SO; II you can con.
sistently and honestly bring In verdict OF
mot guilty. no man will rejoice more than
i shall. II 1t is conspiracy, overwhelm Il
with your clear, unmistakable decision aud
send Mr.. Todd back to his family, purified
and made better by the trial he has gone
through to years of future usefulness In
the great work God has called him to. The
case is 10 your hands,"
The minutes were read by DR.. Fleming
and they were adopted. Dr. Chester offered
the closing prayer In 1t he implored d.
vine guidance to aid the court In coming to
righteous decision.
The Presbytery then, at 4 o'clock, I'D.
journed to 1880 to-day. The session will
be secret one, none but members Of tht
court being allowed to be present.
After the adjournment both OF the coun
sci were congratulated by the members oil
tie Presbytery on their very able argu
ments. DR.. Childs was especially compii
mented upon the ability displayed In hi,
handling Of the case without any previous
preparation.
There seems to be but little room fo
doubt as to what the verdict will be, al
though there are many fine legal dstlnc
tions and points to be considered-in fact
there Is so much Of this to be done that thu
court will hardly come to any conclusion
before late this afternoon. Several OF tn,
members said that they were going to b,
very delibtrate; that there would be M
hasty decision, for mans ministerial lif
and reputation were concerned in the YER
dict,